What a night for Boston Bruins second-year defenseman Mark Stuart at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, despite not getting to once again skate against his brother Colin, who was a healthy scratch for the Thrashers.

By scoring two goals in the Bruins’ 7-3 rout in the first half of their home-and-home series with Atlanta, Stuart posted his first career multi-point game. Stuart was also one of eight Bruins players to post a plus-2 rating in the win.

Maybe the Thrashers should’ve dressed Colin, who was called up from the AHL Thursday. Last Dec. 31, both Stuart brothers scored in a game at the TD Banknorth Garden — so Atlanta could’ve at least tried to win the brother battle.

•With a goal and two assists Phil Kessel extended his point-scoring streak to 15 games, which is the longest in the NHL this season. It’s also the longest streak by a Bruins player since Adam Oates enjoyed a 20-game streak in January and February of 1997.

•Tim Thomas is now 9-1-1 in his last 11 outings. Look for Manny Fernandez to start the second half of the back-to-back.

•Disappointing to see defenseman Aaron Ward leave his return game (after four games out) with an apparent lower-body injury just two shifts in and Petteri Nokelainen depart after just five shifts in with what looked like an upper-body injury. I’ll have an update and complete coverage of Bruins-Thrashers throughout Saturday.